You didn’t really think I was going to let a holiday go by without seizing the opportunity to talk about baby names, did you?
Valentine’s Day has had several incarnations over the past several thousand years. While the origin is somewhat debated, it likely originated in Rome to take the place of Lupercalia, an Ancient Roman festival honoring the wolf Lupa who suckled Romulus and Remus. Women were fed raw animal parts in an effort to make them more fertile. The pope outlawed pagan Lupercalia, but kept the amorous spirit of the holiday when he declared February 14 to be St. Valentine’s day. But who was St. Valentine?
When Emporer Claudius II saw that he had a disgruntled and homesick fleet, he outlawed marriage. St. Valentine, who thought this practice was unjust, kept marrying couples in secret. He was caught and imprisoned. Grateful men and women passed him notes and flowers, and his last note passed out of the prison was said to be signed, “Love, Your Valentine.” And so the tradition began.
Today the commercial aspects of the holiday have taken hold. Despite it’s Hallmark status, it has always been and will always be one of my favorites. Tiny surprise gifts in red and pink and traditional chocolates sprinkle our house with lots of love. I was reminded how special it was again when we received lovingly crafted homemade valentines from my mother far away. This time, they were for my daughter. And so the tradition continues.
Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day Everyone!!! XOXOX
GIRLS
Ahava- Hebrew, “love”
Aiko- Japanese, “love, affection” + “child”
Amabel- English, from the Latin amabilis “lovable”
Amy, Aimée- Both from the Old French, amée, “beloved”
Amethyst- Greek. Did anyone know that February’s birthstone means literally, “not drunk”? These precious stones were thought to ward off inebriation.
Angela, Angelica, Angelina- Latin, “angel”, “messenger”
Annabel, Annabelle, Annabella- Originally arose as a misspelling of Amabel, see above
Aphrodite- Greek goddess of love who was born from the foam in the sea. Aphros means foam in Greek.
Branwen- Welsh goddess of love
Cara- Italian for “beloved”; the Welsh caru also means “love”
Carys- Welsh, “love”
Cordula- Latin, “heart”
Esme- Scottish via Old French, meaning “esteemed” or “beloved”
Freya- Old Norse, “lady”; Norse goddess of love and beauty
Hermione- Greek, “messenger”
Janan- Arabic, “heart, soul”
Kerensa- Cornish, “love”
Kokoro- Japanese, “heart, soul”
Lakshmi- Sanskrit, “sign, luck”, and the Hindu goddess of beauty
Love- English, derived from lufu in Old English
Nayeli- Zapotec, Native American, “I love you”
Poésie- French, “poetry”
Posy- A diminutive of Josephine, but also a bunch of flowers
Priya- Sanskrit, “beloved”
Psyche- Greek, “to breathe” or “soul”; In Greek mythology, Psyche was Eros’ lover, and the envy of Aphrodite
Rosa- Italian for not only “rose”, but the color “pink”, making this doubly appropriate for this rosy holiday
Rose- Originally derived from Germanic elements hrod “fame” and heid “type” in the forms Roese and Rohese, and later associated with the flower
Tanith- “Serpent lady”; Phoenician goddess of love and fertility
Valentina, Valentine- Latin, “brave, valiant”
Venus- Latin, Roman goddess of love, passion, and beauty
Violet- Latin, from Viola, also symbolizing the flower for February
BOYS
Amado, Amato- Spanish and Latin respectively, “beloved”
Amias- English, “friendship”
Archer- English surname, and the occupation of Cupid
Bard- A college and a surname of the same meaning, a poet or singer
Cupid- Latin, from cupido which means “desire”, this winged sex god morphed into an infant over time.
David- Hebrew, “beloved”
Erasmo, Erasmus- Greek, “beloved.” St. Erasmus is the patron saint of sailors
Eros- Greek, “passionate love”, Aphrodite’s son and the predecessor to Rome’s Cupid
Habib- Arabic, “beloved, darling”
Hermes- Greek mythology, messenger to Zeus
Hubert- Germanic, “bright heart, mind”
Jedidiah- Hebrew, “beloved”
Lev- Hebrew, “heart”
Philo- Greek, “to love”
Red- English, usually given as a nickname to a person with red hair, beard, or complexion
Tadhg, Teague- Irish, “poet”
Valentine, Valentijn, Valentino- Latin, “brave, valiant”
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t think I’d be game enough to use it, but I’d love to meet a little boy named Cupid! Unfortunately, I think it’s one of those names that would be adorable on a little boy, but would leave a teenager open to all the ridicule peers could heap on him. “Cupe” as a nickname would work though!
This is huge list of different baby names and its meanings. Thanks for sharing!
Seeing as my birthday is on Valentines, I think it would be cool to have little boy named Valentine.
My personal favorites are Violet and Amabel. I’d never thought of connecting Archer to Valentine’s day, but it makes perfect sense!
There’s a little girl at my school named Erasmia (air-iss-MEE-uh). I assume it’s a feminization of Erasmus, which means “beloved.” That could be another cute name for a Valentine baby!
I’m going to add you to my blogroll, if that’s okay.
Oh, yes please, Emmy Jo– add me to the blogroll. Thank you. I will return in kind.
My blogroll is in desperate need of expansion, I realize. There is a regular name blog circuit now. I love it!
Erasmia is *almost* pretty to me, but reminds me of Arrhythmia. Cupid is a bit more out there than I would generally recommend, but I figure if Adonis and Hermes can pull it off (and I know both), then why not Cupid? Your call.
Here are names from Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queene, published between 1590 and 1596:
Amoret “little love” — this character represented the virtue of married love
Alma “the soul”
And, perhaps a tad less enthusiastically:
Scudamour “shield of love” — husband of Amoret
One more from The Faerie Queene:
Belphoebe ” beautiful, bright, pure moon” or something like that!
My name, Davena is the feminine form of David, so also means ‘beloved’. My father seems to have made a spelling error on my birth certificate however, as most people spell it Davina.
I had my son on Valentine’s Day this year and we named him Valentino. We are going to either call him Val or Tino but we can’t decide. I like Val and his dad likes Tino. Any Suggestions???
Hello Erica! Welcome. I really like Val. It sounds so exotic and handsome on a boy. Tino would be adorable on the right child. Vale comes to mind as a kind of modernization of the name– almost like a place name (Vail). Vo? I always liked Vina as a nickname for Valentina, but unfortunately it doesn’t quite work as well for the masculine.
Do tell us what you decide! Nicknames often have a way of working themselves out on their own, often having nothing at all to do with the name, of course. Valentino is such a great choice. What’s your heritage?